About David Solan
Biography
Dr. David Solan is a leader in developing, advancing, and communicating energy and environmental technologies and policy. At the Department of Energy (DOE), Solan led the renewable power office and DOE's policy office, in addition to being part of the leadership team at the Office of Science. As the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Renewable Power, he led DOE's RD&D efforts in wind, solar, water, and geothermal technologies, with a budget of almost $650 million annually. He also led the renewable power office's contributions to the Grid Modernization Initiative, and departmental efforts on integrated energy and hybrid systems. He has testified in both the US Senate and the House of Representatives on advanced energy technologies, renewables, critical minerals, and national security.
He draws from his leadership experience at DOE and the Environmental Protection Agency (Senior Policy Advisor to the Deputy Administrator and in the R&D Office); Board Member of an energy advisory committee to a state Governor and at a DOE National Laboratory; advisory council member for an Investor-Owned Utility; Legislative Director, committee staffer, and press secretary in Congress; and an executive at a multi-institutional research and education consortium. He has extensive experience across issues such as climate, environmental stewardship, water, transportation, land use, permitting, power generation (renewables, fossil, nuclear), energy storage, the grid, fuels, markets, and national security. The author of more than 40 publications, in his career as a principal investigator he also won more than $5 million in research awards from DOE, NSF, a DOE national laboratory, state government, non-profits, industry, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Solan has consulted extensively with Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies, in addition to start-ups, small businesses, and non-profits.
He received his PhD and Master's from the University of Delaware, and graduated with a Bachelor's degree cum laude and with honors from Drew University.
He resides with his family in the Washington DC metro area with quick access to the federal government and airport connections around the US and internationally.